Over 20 Missing as Jetty Collapses in Rivers

Blessing Ibunge in Port Harcourt

No fewer than 20 persons have been reported missing as the jetty collapsed at Isaka Community in Okrika Local Government Area of Rivers State.

THISDAY gathered that the incident happened yesterday evening as passengers were struggling to get a boat from the community back to Port Harcourt.

It was gathered that there was a burial programme that attracted many people to the area and that the crowd was responsible for high patronage for ferry services.
It further gathered that over 80 people, who alighted from the ferry, stood on the jetty, thereby exerting pressure on the old, rickety facility.

As a result, according to the source, the jetty caved inside the river alongside all the passengers on it.
Mr. Isaac Walter, a resident of the area, who witnessed the incident narrated that many persons have not been found since the accident.

He noted that local divers in the area had emptied into the river and that many people have been rescued.
He narrated: “Today, we had a burial programme at Isaka and a lot of people were in attendance. On our way back people came to board vessels at the jetty.

“In that process, the jetty caved in and so many people fell into the river and they were not able to be rescued. Few of them were rescued easily. I was standing a bit away from the point that caved in.

“The jetty is an old jetty. It was during Komo’s period (as military administrator of the state) that they inaugurated that jetty. We have tried to get another jetty but we could not.

“The people came on it, pressure was on the jetty and then it caved in. The people on the jetty at that moment were more than 70. Local divers are still combing the area to find survivors. Though some were rescued.
“To be candid I may not say exactly the number of people that have not been found, but they should be up to 20.”